h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Over on POV someone asked a question about whether golf was mentioned in Doctor Who. Actually, there is a reference to golf in The Sea Devils. Having found reference to rugby, football, darts and cricket, as well as golf, by way of an exercise for the true fan, I was wondering if there were any other sporting references in the classic series.

And, I was also wondering if there were any other more esoteric references in the classic series that might stimulate the mind; perhaps as a question of the week.

Well there's chess, obviously, if you count that as a sport.

Oh, and table tennis, in either Curse of Peladon or Monster of Peladon, can't remember which.

Oh, and wrestling, in The Romans. The Doctor says he trained with (or trained himself?) The Mountain Mauler of Montana.

Table tennis is mentioned in Robot - the Alpha Centauri team (which is why you're thinking of the Peladon stories, Kerr).

There's formal boxing, of course, in Carnival of Monsters.

A Cricket match appeared in an episode of Daleks' Masterplan, a cricket ball appears in Ark in Space, the Doctor bowls at a rock in Hand of Fear, the fifth Doctor was dressed as a Victorian cricketer, but only bowled a ball in Four to Doomsday and Black Orchid, while the Seventh Doctor makes a pun about 'bowl the maiden over' in Time and the Rani.

Oh, and Terrance Dicks's novels described the 5th Doctor as possessing 'an open face', which is apparently a batting term. Clever, eh?

The Doctor uses a football rattle in a story to frighten a horse - think it's Masque of Mandragora (though it might be Androids of Tara).

It's Mandragora, I think. And you are of course right about Robot .

And there's rock climbing in Fenric, which I at least consider a sport.

And diving in the same story.

And all those Haemovores were amateurs, to preserve their places in the vampire Olympics

There's draughts in Kinda, but that's probably pushing it a bit.

Rugby is mentioned in The Daemons when Benton and Yates decide to watch it on TV

We have swimming in the Paradise Towers.

The score being 13-0. The side Yates' is supporting wins- Benton pays up for a bet.

Does Venusian Akido count as a sport?

Leela knows archery and tells this to Nesbin in The Invasion of Time

Yes. The IOC (Intergalactic Olympic Committee, run by the Chronovores) are going to introduce it at the next Olympics.

As I ask on POV Where from?:

Darts:

I'll give you a clue: The Doctor smiles, "I always told Alexander Bell that wires were unreliable." When Morgan asks what the Doctor wants to order, the Doctor asks for a pint of ginger beer. The Doctor doesn't give much answers to a questioning Morgan. Not much happens here except the Dart's Night. The Doctor throws the darts and then finds the dart board is new, never been used before.

That's from The Android Invasion. There's also darts mentioned in Battlefield- the chalk the Doctor gives Ace is from the dartboard.

Highland games are mentioned in?

The Olympics are mentioned in an early Troughton story - The Underwater Menace, I think - where one of the companions find a commemorative coin from the Olympics.

Highland Games? Ha! One of the characters in Terror of the Zygons is called 'Caber'.

And according to the first episode of the new series, Rose Tyler was in the under sevens athletics team (she got the bronze).

If we count Chess and Draughts, surely we must count Backgammon from Marco Polo, but what did the Doctor win?